


the simplest and most complicated pleasure

by bespectacled



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Chess, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bespectacled/pseuds/bespectacled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>You might see all kinds of human emotion here--</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Passion and pain, love and hate.</i>
  <br/>
  <i>I see nothing other than a simple board game </i>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Solavellan, fluctuating between Very Silly and not so much, with an inevitable dark turn - the only thing won is the chess. Very much WIP</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. this is the one situation i wanted most to avoid

**Author's Note:**

> This prologue is based on my own reaction to the chess conversation.
> 
> And then it continued, fueled by the Chess soundtrack. All titles/bits in italics are from somewhere in Chess.
> 
> Currently a work in progress, I anticipate the rating will increase at some point, though I'm not sure just how high it'll go...

_this is the one situation_

_I wanted most to avoid_

 

“He plays chess. _In his head.”_

 

Josephine was practised in non-reaction, keeping up a mask until she had weighed up the most diplomatic response, but even she was tested by the overly-enthusiastic, wild-eyed elf standing before her.

 

“Josie. In his head. _In his head._ ” Ellana leaned forward, steadying herself with her hands. “I don't know how to cope with this.”

 

“With wine...?” Josephine responded delicately, wondering when their beloved Inquisitor had last slept.

 

Ellana nodded frantically. “ _Yes._ I need wine, and I need you, and I need...Dorian. Dorian will understand.” For a brief moment, a more calm, cunning expression crossed Ellana's face. “Dorian will definitely understand because he was playing it with Bull.”

 

Josephine stood, mentally cataloguing this, alongside were she could lay her hands on a not-too-alcoholic wine. “Shall we?”

 

* * *

 

 

Dorian sipped at his wine, looking out across Skyhold. “I realise you have the burden of the world's continued existence on your shoulders but Andraste's tits, that view makes it worth it.”

 

Ellana smiled – visibly calmer than previously, Josephine was relieved to note. “I am allowed some perks.”

 

“So. What was this grand news that you so desperately needed to share?”

 

“Solas - “

 

“Again? Ellana, you really should just _talk to him_.”

 

“Solas was playing chess _in his head._ Without a board. Whilst we were patrolling. _In his head._ ” Ellana paused for dramatic effect. “You're not reacting.”

 

Dorian sipped his wine. “I'm not sure how to.”

 

“He was playing it will Bull.”

 

“... _really.”_ Dorian leaned back against the wall. “Well.”

 

“It's sexy, isn't it? Sexy. Really sexy.” Ellana looked to Josephine for confirmation, then back to Dorian. “As certified gentleman librarian and first lady of all that is cultural, I thought you'd understand.”

 

Josephine smiled slightly. “I can see the appeal – it's quite the intellectual feat.”

 

“ _In his head._ And he was winning. I think.” Ellana sighed. “Do you think he knows how attractive that is? I bet it hasn't even crossed his mind.”

 

“Or he has an elaborate scheme to seduce via his brain power and was very aware just how attractive you'd find it.”

 

There was a brief moment (which Ellana would later blame on the wine) where she genuinely considered this as a possibility.

 

“You need to do something.” Josephine said kindly. “You clearly feel quite strongly - “

 

“Very strongly. Excessively strongly. Brain-breakingly strongly – more for me than for you.” Dorian placed his wine carefully on the balustrade, placing a gentle hand on Ellana's shoulder. “You are the Inquisitor. You are a strong, confident woman, who can close rips in _the very fabric of time and space_. You can tell a boy you like him.”

 

“...he isn't a boy. He's a _man_. Who plays chess _in his head._ ” Ellana pouted, before finding herself a little vulnerable. “But wouldn't it be awkward? If he...doesn't like me?”

 

Dorian smiled kindly. “You destroy evil on a regular basis and lead a gigantic army, and yet this is what you worry about.”  
  


“If I start really worrying about all of that I don't think I'd ever stop.” Ellana reasoned, looking to Josephine as Dorian returned to the view, looking out across Skyhold. “Josie. You must know the right way to do this. Etiquette, and manners, and ...diplomacy.”

 

“I don't think I'll launch any campaigns just yet.” Josephine replied dryly, sipping her wine. “He is a good man, I think he would act honourably...regardless of the outcome.”

 

Ellana tipped her head. “Should I go and speak to him now?”

 

“...no. Not now. Too much wine has been taken.” Josephine said gently, eyeing the remains of the bottle and making plans on how she would remove it safely.

 

“And you will probably just start telling him how sexy chess is.” Dorian glanced back at her, pouring the remaining wine into his own glass after a brief look from Josephine.

 

“ _Chess is sexy._ Especially abstract, head-only chess.” Ellana looked at her empty class, appearing to will it to refill itself. “Maybe I can ask him to teach me how to play chess.”

 

“I've seen you play chess. You can play chess.” Dorian frowned.

 

“Yes, yes, but does he know that?”

 

Dorian glanced to Josephine. “Is this what she's like at the war table? Is this why she has three advisers?”

 

“She makes better decisions with the lives of many than her own.” Josephine smiled. “Go to bed, Ellana. Perhaps play a game of chess with Solas tomorrow.”

 

“ _With wine?”_

 

“...I feel that is a decision you should make tomorrow morning.” Josephine gently guided Ellana inside. “Regardless of what happens, you are - “

 

“No, no, we'll do the comforting after everything goes horribly wrong.” Ellana shook her head, sitting down on her bed. “I know it seems funny to everyone else, but I'm not very good at this kind of thing. I've only ever really liked people once I've got to know them, and usually they haven't even thought of me that way, so it all ends...badly.” She began to fiddle with the blanket. “I don't want that to happen again.” She looked up, meeting Josephine's eyes. “And he's just...he's so _intelligent_. He knows so many things, and he's seen so much, and I've...barely left home. The most interesting thing about me is by the whims of Andraste. Maybe.”

 

Josephine sat down beside her, taking her hand gently. “That is not the most interesting thing about you, Ellana. It may be what brought you here, but you are more than your title and more than your mark.”

 

“And you don't think I'm being silly?” Ellana asked quietly, feeling very, very tired.

 

“I think that you are allowed to be silly sometimes. There is plenty of time for the weight of the world to be on your shoulders. Being silly is a good thing.” Jospehine squeezed her hand.

 

“So yes.”

 

“Sleep well, Ellana.”

 

 


	2. a model of decorum and tranquility

_a model of decorum and tranquility_

 

“Chess.”

 

Solas looked up to see Ellana (and he really should try to stop thinking of her as Ellana, it was much easier to keep...everything...at bay when she was just her title, even though it was patently obvious that she was far, far more than that) standing in his doorway. “Chess?”

 

“Chess. I wondered if you wanted to play. You and Bull were playing – I'm rusty.” She smiled, and it was odd to see her so vulnerable. “I think it may help on the war table.”

 

“You'd like to play with wooden soldiers instead of the real things for a while?” He couldn't help but smile back – there was something in her that brought out this relatively rare brighter side.

 

“It would be nice to play a battle where the outcome didn't matter as much.” She edged closer to his desk, absently looking over his papers before directing her attention to his painting. “Am I going to be on these walls one day? Or is it just the past?”

 

“We'll have to see how the future plays out.” The gnawing sensation at the back of his mind that reminded him that this was a very, very bad idea and he shouldn't allow his head to be turned by a pretty face, that he had a plan that needed to be carried out. A far more optimistic, kinder, tempting part of him reminded him that Ellana was far more than a pretty face.

 

Though she was very pretty, especially when her nose wrinkled like that and she'd realised that he was flirting with her.

 

“Perhaps we could have a wager. If I win a game, I become part of the mural.”

 

“And if I win?”

 

“That would be up to you.” She met his gaze, something serious and inviting in her tone. “I'm sure you can come up with something suitable.”

 

“I-yes, I'm sure I could.” Solas leaned against the desk, internally wrestling with himself even though he knew the outcome. “When did you have in mind?”

 

“Would now be a good time? Or perhaps this evening, if you're busy.” She was toying with his papers now, consciously not looking at him, though his eyes were on her slim fingers, bringing a careless chaos to his order.

 

“You're _not_ busy?” He studied her face, wondering if she was reading what she toyed with, if she knew how many of his secrets were laid here, what she'd think if she read them.

 

She glanced up, a sheepish smile on her face. “I am always busy. But I'm also exhausted. Chess with you would be a very welcome distraction.”

 

Later, he will use that line to justify breaking her heart, but for now he is only too happy to distract her.

 

“Where did you want to play?”

 

* * *

 

She wasn't sure if it was provocative to play in her bedroom – well, on her balcony – but it felt the most logical place. Then again, perhaps it felt logical because she intended to be at least a little provocative.

 

Not that her playing style was reflecting that at present. She is being far too shy, far too nervous to really play at her best – though so far Solas hasn't taken advantage of that.

 

She bit her lip, wishing he would take advantage.

 

“I was very ..impressed by you playing chess with Bull.” She cast her eyes over the board – she wasn't losing, she could say that at least. Not that she was winning either. Her fingers lingered over her pieces, finally settling on her knight.

 

He watched her make her move, smiling enigmatically – she wasn't sure how deliberate it was, if he was aware of the effect he was having on her. “Thank you.”

 

“To hold the board in your head like that...”

 

“You're already doing it.” Solas moved apparently without thinking, though it sent some of her vague plans reeling when he took one of her pawns. “With real people.”

 

“At least I have more than two mages.” She reasoned abstractly, toying with the one on the board. She had taken white, playing first, though she was wondering if she should have been more reactive. “Does that make me queen?”

 

“Perhaps, you do take a rather active role.”

 

She moved her mage across the board, setting her eyes on his knight, not that she was certain. “Though I am lacking a king.” She glanced up.

 

“A liability, I feel – barely able to do anything.” Solas didn't meet her eyes this time, looking out over Skyhold. “You have achieved something very important here, Inquisitor.”

 

“Solas, while we're in my quarters you can definitely call me Ellana.” She smiled in what she hoped was a coy yet flirtatious manner. “And...thank you. We've created a community, as well as an army.”

 

“You've created hope.” He reasoned simply, returning her smile. “Ellana.”

 

She wondered if she was blushing. It certainly felt like she was. “Have you given any thought to your prize?”

 

He had given it a lot of thought. His mind kept wandering to exactly what he would like for his prize. Every time he looked at her fingers, her mouth, the swell of her chest – yes, he had given a _lot_ of thought to what he wanted as his prize. He inhaled deeply, hoping she didn't the slight flush in his cheeks or the discomfort with which he shifted. “Some, yes.”

 

“Given the way this game is going, I'd rather like to know what I'll be doing.” She watched him study the board for a moment before making his move. There was a careless grace to it – she knew that he was thinking deeply, that he was plotting moves with every glance, but the way he actually moved his pieces looked so casual. It took a lot of effort to appear that detached.

 

“I wondered about a journey in the Fade.”

 

She tipped her head, intrigued. “How?”

 

He smiled, something in his eyes that sent sparks through her body. “I have my ways.”

 

She was definitely blushing this time. “I look forward to finding out more about your...ways.” She winced inwardly. She was really quite terrible at flirting.

 

Perhaps it was charming. Besides, she had plenty of other skills.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have really, really enjoyed writing this far more than I should...
> 
> Concrit welcomed <3


End file.
